American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 353,511 Shares of Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PTGX) by 61.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 928,286 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 353,511 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics were worth $35,832,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 127.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 81,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,782,000 after purchasing an additional 45,674 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Protagonist Therapeutics by 7.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 565,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,448,000 after buying an additional 39,850 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics by 3,099.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 320,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,437,000 after buying an additional 310,804 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at about $861,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Protagonist Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $2,016,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Protagonist Therapeutics

In other Protagonist Therapeutics news, CEO Dinesh V. Ph D. Patel sold 5,359 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.18, for a total transaction of $204,606.62. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 540,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,627,126.80. This represents a 0.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Asif Ali sold 24,903 shares of Protagonist Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.73, for a total transaction of $1,462,553.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,689,477.33. The trade was a 28.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 64,776 shares of company stock valued at $3,585,010. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Protagonist Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PTGX opened at $48.88 on Friday. Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.22 and a fifty-two week high of $60.60. The company’s 50-day moving average is $42.54 and its 200 day moving average is $42.90. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.38 and a beta of 2.34.

Protagonist Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PTGX) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The company reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $2.07. Protagonist Therapeutics had a net margin of 52.76% and a return on equity of 34.68%. The firm had revenue of $170.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $56.65 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PTGX has been the topic of several recent research reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $58.00 price target on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, February 7th. BTIG Research set a $73.00 target price on Protagonist Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Truist Financial increased their price target on Protagonist Therapeutics from $60.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 target price on shares of Protagonist Therapeutics in a report on Monday, March 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $62.56.

Protagonist Therapeutics Company Profile

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, develops peptide-based drugs for hematology and blood disorders, and inflammatory and immunomodulatory diseases. It is developing Rusfertide (PTG-300), an injectable hepcidin mimetic that completed phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of polycythemia vera and other blood disorders; and JNJ-2113, an orally delivered investigational drug to block biological pathways that completed phase 2b clinical trials for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis; and PN-943, an orally delivered, gut-restricted alpha 4 beta 7 specific integrin antagonist completed a phase 2 clinical trials in patients with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis.